Gayle King, Nate Burleson and Tony Dokoupil will be waking up America this morning from a new Times Square studio — and with a rebrand from CBS This Morning to CBS Mornings.
CBS This Morning broadcast for the last time from the W57th Street studio at the CBS Broadcast Center on Labor Day morning (yesterday). Vladimir Duthiers co-hosted with Dana Jacobson and Jericka Duncan. “The end of an era. The very first story I did at CBS News on my second day here was for CBS This Morning. The very first time I filled in as a co-host with Norah O’Donnell and Gayle King was March 2015,” reminisced Duthiers on Instagram.
Gayle King was out in Times Square yesterday promoting the new show. “This is our new home in the heart of New York City. The new name is more than a nod to our friends at CBS Sunday Morning,” said King. “We’re bringing more of that feature, storytelling magic that Sunday Morning is known for. We’re still going to be covering the top news stories of the day, of course, but we’re going to give them the time and the care that they deserve. We are a weekday show — so it’s going to be faster pace.”
King stressed that CBS Mornings was “committed to being the place where we hope that you will want to start your mornings.” While Duthiers said: “Hard news is the DNA and legacy of CBS.”
In a video shared on Twitter, Dokoupil quipped that he had gone across Times Square to deliver “cake and a fruit basket” to his competitors at Good Morning America. The gift had been refused.
The show has been running for 57 years. The morning news show became CBS This Morning in 2012 with King, Erica Hill and Charlie Rose as anchors. It is seen as newsier than rivals —but is third place in ratings. In comparison, CBS Sunday Mornings tops its weekend time slot.
In the new lineup, longtime CBS news journalist Anthony Mason has been replaced by former NFL player Nate Burleson.
The first hour of the weekday broadcast, which starts at 7am, will be devoted to hard news and conversation, while the second hour will include feature reporting, live interviews, arts and culture pieces. “There’ll be urgency in the seven, optimism in the eight — and if none of that works out I’ll talk about whiskey,” joked Dokoupil.
CBS is still maintaining the W57th Street Broadcast Center. In March, The Real Deal reported they had purchased a 24,000 square foot building on the block to expand the broadcaster’s 1 million-square-foot footprint on the far west side of Hell’s Kitchen.
Last month, we reported that Trevor Noah and The Daily Show were also leaving Hell’s Kitchen for the CBS Studios in Times Square.
I miss Anthony Mason – both his intelligent insights and deep passion for culture!
His absence leaves a huge void!